the dreams and drawings of the early balloonists (pilots were called professors)

 pretty good idea for early balloonists... an escape parachute for the basket and passengers. Early on there was no idea what to do once you got it off the gorund, just go for the ride and hope you had a soft landing

all found on http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?trg=1&word=Balloons%20%2D%2D%20Pictorial%20works&s=3&notword=&d=&c=&f=2&k=0&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&num=100&imgs=20&pNum=